Life Cycle
by kirsten1234
Summary: A life cycle, by definition including birth, development, reproduction, and death. And Peeta is always worried that Katniss will fall at the end of the cycle. A Hunger Games one-shot, set in London, AU.


_Monday, 12:35pm_

Peeta has 5 minutes left until his scheduled lunch break, probably enough time for one more call he thinks just as the phone rings.

"Ambulance service, how can I help you?"

"Cyclists's been hit and run over by a lorry, one of those ones carrying a crane." A gruff voice said to him across the line. Unfortunately in his work on the ambulance switchboard for the London area, cyclists getting knocked off their bike's or run over wasn't an uncommon call. Which was why Peeta was particularly frustrated that Katniss continued to cycle to and from work despite his warnings.

' _I wear a helmet, I use the cycle lanes, and I stop at the traffic lights when they're red Peeta!'_ Katniss would exclaim every time Peeta brought up a cyclist accident that he'd put the call through for at work.

He berated himself for being glad that it was lunchtime and that it was very unlikely that this was Katniss.

"Can I get your location, sir?"

He pauses before responding, "Eh, on Holborn, near the-" another pause, "Chancery Lance underground entrance."

Peeta enters the location and goes ahead to dispatch a crew to the location.

"Right, thank you, sir. Is the cyclist in a safe location currently? Is he or she still on the road?" he asked calmly, getting ready to fill in further information into the computer form.

"I think it's a woman, her top half is still between the wheels." He inserts the details so far.

"Can you tell if she is still breathing?"

He can hear more people and a slight crackle on the phone line.

"Don't know" is all the man says, "someone's tried to talk to her but didn't get no response."

Peeta turns the call to emergent, a Red 1 call.

"An ambulance is on its way sir, I'm going to keep you on the line and ask you for some more details to help the crew when they arrive."

"Yep" the man says, and Peeta wonders if he was involved or if he was just a passer by.

"Can you see if the woman is bleeding?"

"Yeah, there's some blood under the vehicle. Don't know how much, it's pretty dark under there."

"Ok, be sure not to move her, the ambulance crew will be there very soon." Peeta tells the man in his calm demeanour.

"Sir, can I ask if you witnessed the accident? Did you see what happened?"

"I was across the road, she'd waited at the light in the lane, the lorry was speeding, overtook her and clipped her off the side into the railing and then ran over her. Bike's in pieces."

This was exactly what Peeta was afraid of for Katniss.

The computer map flashed with the ambulance, they were only yards away from the scene.

"Sir, the ambulance will be with you momentarily. I just have one last question, is the driver of the vehicle still at the scene?"

"I see the ambulance. Yeah, he's still here, I think he's in shock or something'."

Peeta made an extra call out for police attendance at the scene. They'd need to question the driver for reckless driving and endangerment it would seem.

He made sure the caller was alright with the ambulance crew and finished the call along with the last of his records.

With a sigh he signed out of the system for lunch, pocketing his phone to check in with Katniss.

 _12:50pm_

Finnick has his phone in his hand, ready to dial home to check on Annie when control calls in to his radio.

'Doctor requested at scene, Holborn at Chancery Lane'

"Dr Odair en route, out" he responds to control grabbing his jacket and zipping up. He tightens his helmet before getting on his assigned motorbike and taking off carefully out of the bay.

Knowing the location, he assumes it must be a traffic accident. It's a big road, there's been a few towards that junction before.

He can see the ambulance lights on the road a few hundred yards ahead, and can hear the police sirens on the way too. From this distance it looks like a lorry transporting a crane has been involved. Hopefully the traffic is being diverted and there's some sort of protection around the scene and victim.

He parks the bike next to the ambulance and leaves his helmet on the seat, checking in at the scene through his radio. He parts the temporary barrier that the police have constructed at the side of the lorry.

"Right, kids!" He announces to the ambulance crew and attending police officers, "What we got?"

As he looks around he grasps the scene. There's two sets of legs sticking out from between two sets of wheels on the lorry. One are clothed in green trousers and heavy black boots, the other are bare with a set of sports trainers on the feet. The victim. At the side is some twisted metal.

"Cyclist versus lorry?" He goes to stand with the second paramedic, Boggs is the name stitched on his uniform.

He nods lightly in response, "Witnesses say reckless driving, took the cyclist against the railings, crushing her and the bike, then dragged her under the wheels."

Then he points at his colleague currently under the wheels with the cyclist, "I warned Cressida to wait, but she's dedicated to the job. Says she was weakly responsive to light, but it's hard getting a full view of the injuries. We're looking at head, neck, spine and probably a broken pelvis. Her pulse is weak in both feet." He sighs and shakes her head lightly.

"Collar's on, but she's weaker, we need to get her out NOW!" comes a voice from under the vehicle. "Pass me the board, we have to take the risk, we won't let her die here!" Finnick admires her strength, he can tell she's a good paramedic.

Between them Finnick and Boggs get the board under the lorry carefully to Cressida and help follow her calls to get the woman onto it.

"Pull her out now, I can't get a pulse!"

The men are swift and the board drags across the tarmac of the road as it comes out, Finnick ready to work on the woman. She's covered in blood as she emerges and they can see it is a worst case scenario of what could have been imagined.

But Finnick goes weak at the knees and his own blood drains when the board is out and Boggs leaps into action. The familiar dark braid which is miraculously intact makes him sick to his stomach.

It's Katniss.

" _Shit!_ " He curses.

"What? Dr Odair, what is it?" Boggs manages to get out while working on Katniss.

"I know her." He's frozen and can't do his job, which he curses himself for.

This doesn't phase Boggs though, nor Cressida who has crawled out from the lorry. She's got some of Katniss' blood on her along with muck from the ground. She's at Katniss immediately, "Dr Odair!" she shouts, getting through to him.

He kneels next to them, but can't pull his eyes from Katniss' face. She's got a head injury and bleeding from it at a steady rate into her hair and over her face. Her skin is pale and her eyes are closed.

"It's cardiac arrest, I'll start CPR" Finnick finally says, and takes only a single breath before pulling open what's left of Katniss' shirt to gain access to her chest.

 _1:10pm_

"Finnick-" Cressida starts, but his shout cuts her off.

"No, damn it! Come on Katniss!"

Boggs and Cressida have tried to cover her other injuries. They could do with Finnick giving a doctor's view on her pelvis. It's definitely broken, and it needs wrapped immediately to attempt to hold it and minimise any further injury. But the damage wrapping it will do to her legs will be unknown, especially the longer that it's wrapped for. Her dorsal pedis pulses haven't been great as it is, and there will be abdominal bleeding as a result of the break. And then there's potential muscular and nervous damage.

Finnick paused a second to check Katniss' pulse at her neck, "It's there, weak, but there – that's a girl, Katniss!"

They move quickly after that, Boggs takes over from Finnick at her heart and breathing while Finnick examines her pelvis. He tries to clear from his mind that it's Katniss, who would hate him seeing her in this state of undress, but it's been necessary for her injuries. In fact he can just see her face turning beetroot at the thought.

His doctors' hands have a delicate touch over her bones. He makes the decision to stabilise immediately – the trauma team at the hospital will manage with what they've done here at the scene.

"Dr Odair, you need to check her chest again, I think she's bleeding." Finnick secures the pelvic wrap, checking it twice before looking up at Boggs who has his hands on either side of Katniss' ribs and his stethoscope around his neck.

"No." Finnick says firmly, "We'll get on the move, I can reassess on the way. If it's not … it's not worth the risk on her." Putting in a chest drain at the scene is rare, and Finnick's never actually had to do one. He's dealt with a needle decompression for a pneumothorax, but not a chest drain for bleeding. No-one's ever been that bad before and they would need to be sure that that was the only line of treatment. Finnick can't accept that Katniss is in that danger yet. She's a fighter, she'll fight this.

 _1:27pm_

"I've called ahead, the trauma team is prepping for arrival in ten minutes" Cressida calls once they're all loaded into the ambulance, Finnick included, with Boggs driving.

"King's College?" Finnick questions.

"Yep, it's a little further, but it's the better trauma centre." Boggs replies, navigating the traffic with a police escort.

Finnick wonders what rotation Primrose Everdeen is on right now. It's her Foundation Year 1 so it could be anything. He just hopes it's not A&E.

Cressida takes over in the back with the main monitoring and care of Katniss. Finnick is able to hold her hand, but he sits silently for the journey.

/

"Red phone, adult female trauma, ten minutes." The speaker phone rings out throughout the department, and Prim knows it's her time for some of the action.

This is her second week on this rotation and she's yet to have a chance at a trauma call.

"Right Dr Everdeen, with me." Dr Paylor calls to her over the corridor, walking over to a cubicle to prepare it for the arrival. Prim follows obediently waiting for further instruction.

It's all so busy in the cubicle, filled with nurses and a few doctors sorting the necessary equipment and getting the bed ready.

Dr Paylor has started readying the team for this trauma, when she calls on Prim.

"Dr Everdeen, you'll observe me at first, pay attention to the handover from the paramedics, there was a doctor at the scene, he might choose to stay and lead the call. You can observe him as well if he does."

Prim nods along eagerly, thinking of what it could be. It's ambulance transport and was fairly close. It could be an RTA, but it's just one patient so probably not. She looks around for the specialists who are here, and is surprised to see it's a lot. The only one she knows well is Dr Coin, the neurology specialist that she'd shadowed for a few weeks in medical school

Once everyone is briefed for the call, Dr Paylor comes back to Prim's side.

"It's going to be busy, alright, observe closely but just make sure you're not in the way of anyone. If someone asks you to do something and you can do it, go ahead. But if you're not comfortable or it's a procedure you haven't seen or done, don't be afraid to ask for help."

"Yes, of course." Prim nods and smiles lightly to her mentor. She tries not to show her nerves, but knows she'll get into the thick of it once the patient has arrived. It should only be a few more minutes now.

 _1:40pm_

Bogg's pulls up carefully into the ambulance bay at the door of A&E, and Finnick has the door open immediately and the trolley mobilised from the ambulance within seconds.

The three of them are careful in taking the trolley from the ambulance. They want to minimise jostling to protect Katniss' pelvis. But then the wheels are down and they're guiding Katniss into the hospital.

When they turn onto the corridor of cubicles Finnick can see the blonde head of Primrose Everdeen and he's sure his face drops. But she doesn't notice and gives him a small smile, glad that he's the doctor on the scene and she's sure he'll let her help or get in closer to observe.

Finnick's mouth opens to say something when they get closer and Prim might be able to see it's Katniss. He wants her to know before she sees or becomes a doctor on the case – even though she won't be allowed or want to. But he just can't speak, he doesn't have the right words to break to Prim that this is her sister. He shakes his head lightly, but Prim misses it.

Boggs takes the opportunity away from Finnick though.

"This is Katniss Everdeen, cyclist versus lorry."

"What?" Prim says, whipping her head between the paramedics, Finnick and the trolley. Finnick let's Boggs take the handover and steps in front of Prim, who is tearing up with a reddening face and panicked breathing.

"Finnick, it's not Katniss, tell me it's not Katniss!" She doesn't care that these are her colleagues. This is her sister, her whole life.

"Primrose, I'm so sorry," Finnick says quietly, holding onto her shoulders before pulling her tightly into his body to hopefully provide a comfort.

Her voice is muffled by Finnick, "No, no no!" She chants, "Not Katniss!" Finnick is supporting her body and he pulls her away from the main crowd in the A&E through to the quieter areas.

She doesn't know how to breathe, or how to deal with this situation. In an instant, she's forgotten how to be a doctor, the one she was trained to be.

Finnick has sat her down somewhere and she crumbles forwards with her head in her lap and hands crying. He has his arm around her back.

"I'll call Peeta," Finnick says eventually, although it's really only a few minutes, "he needs to get here."

Prim can only nod, she couldn't make the call right now herself, and wouldn't want him to hear from anyone else or someone that he didn't know.

 _2:00pm_

Peeta had left his phone in his pocket after lunch, forgetting to call Katniss, so the vibrating made him jump a little. He wasn't on a call luckily, but he still shouldn't have left his phone on during his shift.

He chances a glance at the screen when he takes it out to shut it off, but he sees Finnick's name. This could mean the baby has been born – and he's a Godfather. Finnick had told him a few nights ago over a beer that him and Katniss would be the Godparents, but it was meant to be a surprise, so they'd kept it from Katniss.

"Hey Finnick, is this it? Annie's had the baby?" He asks excitedly.

Finnick doesn't respond, but Peeta can hear his deep breaths.

"Finn? Is everything ok with Annie and the baby?" Peeta tries to ask calmly, trying not to think the worst. Finnick's not someone with few words.

"No-I mean yes, Annie's fine, Peeta." Finnick comes up with after a minute. "Peeta, listen, I have some bad news for you. There's been an accident. I attended the scene. Peeta, I'm so sorry, Katniss was involved in an accident." Finnick has teared up over telling Peeta this and he sniffs loudly.

"No!" Peeta shouts, he can't comprehend the information. How was Katniss in an accident? He doesn't notice the attention he's attracted in the office.

"I'm so sorry," is all Finnick can tell him.

Peeta's phone falls from his hands as he pushes back from his desk, dropping his head into his hands to cry.

It takes him just a minute to realise he didn't even ask anything, but if a doctor was called to the scene, he knew it must be serious.

He calls Finnick back on his way to the car park, finding out that Katniss is still alive, _thank God_ , and which hospital she's at. He blanches when Finnick says Prim was there and should have been on the case, but he knows Finnick will take care of her until he can get there.

 _2:20pm_

"Peeta will be here soon, Prim" Finnick tells the shaking, crying blonde in the quiet corridor.

"She'll be fine, she was fighting the whole time Prim." He tries to keep his voice steady, he can break down when he's alone, later, before he has to tell Annie anything. He will need to be strong for her too. He hopes right now that Peeta is taking his chance to be weak, when he gets here he'll be needed. Katniss will need everyone.

The car's been stopped for a few minutes when Peeta finally draws the courage to get out and make his way into the accident and emergency department. He debates whether to ask at the desk for Katniss or to go ahead and find Prim and Finnick.

"Can I help you?" A nurse asks Peeta as he's stopped in the middle of the corridor, blocking the way.

"My-Katniss Everdeen, she's my girlfriend, she was in an accident."

The nurse nods, "Give me a second-" she checks something on an iPad and clicks through a few screens. "Right, she's at the scanner, I know where her sister is though, I can take you to Dr Everdeen if you like?" He nods and then follows her through the department.

"Peeta!" Prim shouts as he rounds the corner, she's in his arms before he can take her in. And then they cry together. Finnick takes this as his moment to bow out. He can have his moment now and support the pair later when they might need him more.

"Have you seen her? How is she?" Peeta manages to get out when the sit down in the waiting area.

Prim shakes her head, "Only briefly when Finnick brought her in. Oh, Peeta, it looked horrible!" There are silent tears still running down her face. And he realises how grown up she looks in her scrubs. "There were so many different teams there, it was the biggest trauma call I've seen!" She gulps and sniffs, trying to hold in her tears, trying to be stronger. "They cut all her clothes off, they said her bike was destroyed." She adds to him.

Peeta can feel his heart crack, "Bike? I took a call, I took a call about a cyclist and a lorry-"

Prim turns to him with a stricken look, his face pale and sickly. He pushes up from the chair and rushes into the men's room nearby, emptying his stomach into the toilet. The fact that he took _that_ call has made him sick to his stomach.

When he makes it back outside, Prim is watching him with worry.

"You didn't know," she whispers, "you did your job well. The ambulance got there, they got her here, and so did Finnick."

"Why wasn't she at work?" Peeta questions out loud, not necessarily to Prim.

"She took the day off, she asked me to keep it a secret, she was getting something for your anniversary tomorrow." Prim admits to him sadly. They had been together for 7 years, however had known each other since childhood.

"I was going to ask her to marry me Prim." He tells her, then pulls her tightly to his side after she gives him a watery beam.

 _2:40pm_

"Dr Everdeen?" Prim looks up to Dr Paylor. Prim stands and looks back at Peeta.

"This is Peeta Mellark, Katniss' … almost fiancé." Peeta shakes hands with Dr Paylor before Prim continues. "How is she?"

"We've had time to look at the scans. There's a swelling on her brain, but Dr Coin is doesn't believe it will need surgery. There'll be regular observations to monitor it though, hopefully the swelling will ease on its own though and Katniss will make a full recovery in that aspect. However there are more serious injuries." Dr Paylor pauses and looks between both Prim and Peeta before continuing. Peeta braces himself to hear the worst – that there's no way to heal Katniss. That she'll be left for death to claim. He grips Prim's hand to ground him in reality.

"Katniss' pelvis is badly broken, we need to perform surgery immediately. That damage has had some downstream effects," Peeta notices her more simple words and explanations, he has a fair amount of medical knowledge despite not being a doctor, but Prim would understand more. He guess's Dr Paylor thinks Prim might be in too much shock to understand anything further.

"While she's in surgery to stabilise her pelvis we'll check her abdominal organs for bleeding. We already know there is fluid in her abdomen, we just have to find the source. Katniss' legs are another concern. The crew at the scene had problems locating a pulse in Katniss' feet, so we need the neurologist to monitor her nerve function during the surgery. We'll do our best to make sure there will be no lasting damage."

Peeta swallows dryly. How can there be so many different things needing fixed in one person? He can feel Prim lean into his side.

"What are her chances? Please be honest Dr Paylor!" Prim asks weakly, she's trying to be realistic, she doesn't want to get her hopes up.

But Dr Paylor shakes her head, "Don't think like that, Dr Primrose," she smiles lightly at the young blonde, "all the best people are going to be working on your sister. We will do _everything_ for her - you know how we work here." Prim puts on a firmer face, and nods, knowing that every effort goes into every patient to save their life.

"We need to take her up to surgery right away, but you can come through and see her." Both Prim and Peeta jump at this chance and are eager to follow Dr Paylor through to Katniss, though she pauses at the first curtained cubicle in the row.

"It can be quite overwhelming seeing a loved one in a condition like this, I just want to prepare you for what you might see."

But they both understand, they both know they'll hate it.

Prim pushes back the curtain and holds it for Peeta so they can step in to see Katniss together. In fact, Peeta is shocked by what little he _can_ see, he wouldn't say he's too overwhelmed by it so far. Katniss is wrapped carefully in a warming cover which conceals most of her bodily injuries, presumably it's got a role in keeping her pelvis stable for the mean time too. As he gets closer and stands near her head, Peeta feels a sudden wave of emotion pour over him. His eyes are stinging from the impending tears, and he leans gently on the safety bar of the bed to stable himself a little. He lets out a low deep breath to try and relief some of the built up tension inside of him. But none of it really works.

Only Katniss' head and neck are on show, and even then they're surrounded by plastic and support equipment. Then there's the large ventilator that's keeping her breathing and covering part of her face. Her eyes are shut, as they should be, but Peeta doesn't know why he's questioning this. But they look so peaceful, like they've been shut just gently. She only looks like she's sleeping, if you just look at her eyes, he supposes.

Prim tries to pretend she doesn't know what it looks like beneath the covering, but she gets flashes of the emergencies that she has seen running through her mind when she looks at her sister. She bends down at Katniss' bed to whisper in her ear.

"You'll be ok, Katniss, I promise, these are the best doctors who're helping you, ok? And then Peeta has a special surprise for you!" She looks over to Peeta, who seems to be struggling to hold it in.

"I hope you went to Victoria's Secret!" Prim giggles back to Katniss, before rubbing her eyes and trying to disguise a sniff. "I'll see you later, you're not going anywhere, you hear me?" She says to Katniss, kissing her cheek then leaving Peeta in private.

"Prim's telling you all my secrets!" He attempts to joke. "But I hear you have some of your own, or more precisely, Victoria's! See … I can be funny." He pulls up a chair even though he will probably only have a few more minutes.

"I really, really love you, Katniss. More than you know, and I don't think I could live without you. You'll do just fine, alright? I'll be waiting for you, always." Peeta gets up and kisses Katniss, taking the moment to breathe it all in before stepping back, thinking he can't handle anymore.

He nods to Dr Paylor when he turns around, giving his permission for them to take her to surgery.

Then he stands with Prim as they watch Katniss wheeled down the corridor and to the elevator, praying that she will come through the other side.

 _4:00pm_

Prim takes Peeta by the locker room on their way to the café. She comes out with her bag slung over her shoulder, her phone in her hand.

"Oh …" she says suddenly as they walk, her eyes glued to the screen. But she pulls it away from Peeta's view when he goes to question her.

They're both quiet as they head down the stairs. But Prim chooses to break the silence.

"It was a picture message from Katniss, I joked about her going to Victoria's Secret – she wanted to get something to wear for your anniversary. She wanted my opinion but I didn't have my phone on me, I just got it now." She's toying with the phone in her hands. Should she show Peeta?

"Right," he replies nervously, "can I see?"

"I don't know," Prim shrugs, "it's special, I think you should save it, for … later. Plus it's not really hospital suitable." She smiles a little at the end, trying to hold herself together for Peeta – they can support each other together.

 _5:45pm_

"Dr Everdeen, Mr Mellark?"

A police officer has approached them about the accident. Peeta greets the officer and asks what they know so far. The driver has been arrested, and it turns out the company needed to be investigated. It's all just being worked on right now.

The officer asks if there's any news so far, Prim shakes her head, "The surgery is still underway, I'm sure Dr Paylor will speak to you when she's done." Prim just wants the police to go away, they're a reminder of the horrors that happened to her poor sister.

"We have what's left of Miss Everdeen's bicycle, we need to keep a hold of it for evidence. This was attached to the bag rack, we don't need to keep it." He hands the small waterproof bag over to Peeta and then says his goodbyes.

Peeta doesn't bother waiting and opens it up, pulling out a package wrapped in tissue-

"It's the, uh, underwear, Peeta."

He stops when Prim says that, not wanting to reveal what's inside in this public place. He lets Prim tuck it into her bag instead and tries to forget about the fact that Katniss bought something so glamourous and un-Katniss just to impress him on their anniversary. His eyes watered at the thought that he didn't want anything like this, he just wanted Katniss, pure and whole as she was. He just wants her to pull through this and get better, and he wanted to be there every step of the way for her.

 _10:10pm_

Peeta's nodded off when Prim spots Dr Paylor exiting the surgery suite at the opposite end of the corridor. She nudges him with force and he almost slides from his chair.

"Katniss?" he asks sleepily. But Prim pulls his arm and points to Dr Paylor who is making her way towards them. He tries to straighten himself up a little before she gets there.

Prim stands and opens her mouth to ask something, but she can't figure out the right question.

"Katniss is just out of surgery, there were a few complications, but we're hesitantly hopeful that she'll recover fairly well." She has a light smile, "We're out of the woods for the immediate time being."

Peeta lets out a sigh of relief, _she's alive!_

"Can we see her?"

Dr Paylor nods, "We'll just let her get settled in recovery. We're keeping her under anaesthesia, we won't wake her up for a little while yet, until we're sure she's ready."

A nurse appears a short while later, ready to give them a quick visit to Katniss in the intensive care recovery ward. They aren't allowed to stay too long, particularly because it's the middle of the night, but she gives them details of when they can come back and when Katniss will be allowed visitors all the time. "Dr Paylor will be by to discuss Katniss' injuries and the surgery before you leave." The nurse tells them before giving the three of them some privacy.

Prim lets Peeta go to Katniss first, she's not so terrified, and feels a little more like a doctor now that Katniss is out of surgery. She looks at things rationally, feeling that Katniss has good chances now that there's been a successful surgery. Peeta sits next to Katniss and he's finally able to hold her hand, which he strokes longingly and lovingly. Prim doesn't listen in on his private moment, she leaves behind the pair and waits in the corridor for Dr Paylor.

When Dr Paylor does arrive, Peeta leaves Katniss after kissing her goodbye and promising to be back soon.

"Let's go somewhere more private," she starts with, then leads them to a small consulting room before continuing. "There was a lot of damage to Katniss' abdominal organs, we had to do some removals, but any detriments to Katniss' lifestyle because of it will be minimal. We had to take out the spleen, the appendix and part of the bowel, and the gall bladder and a small amount of liver. Katniss has been very lucky that these weren't life threatening injuries." Both Prim and Peeta nod, willing this talk to be over so there's no more bad news.

"We were able to secure her pelvis back together, and so far her legs are looking ok in terms of blood flow and her nerves. It took quite some time, a lot longer than we were hoping and there were a few bleeds around her hips. Unfortunately we might only find further damage when she wakes up and becomes mobile." Dr Paylor gives them a little breather for a few minutes.

"Just one final thing," her tone is more gentle and she looks towards Peeta before carefully continuing, "the damage in her pelvis was more significant on one side. I don't know where you two were on considering starting a family," Peeta thinks he might have frozen in time, and he gulps, not knowing what to say. "We had to remove one of Katniss' ovaries and fallopian tubes. I'm so sorry." Peeta can only nod in response, yes, he did want lot of children with Katniss, but she hadn't given any indications that it would be soon. He felt a pang hit his heart, but then felt guilty – here he was thinking about all the children he wanted when Katniss was still fighting for her life. Then Peeta wondered if he would need to be the one to tell Katniss, what would her reaction be?

Peeta took Prim back to his and Katniss' home for the night, they wanted to be together in case there was any news.

 _Tuesday, 6:15am_

They'd made it through the night without any calls. One day at a time seemed to be a good outlook right now.

Peeta called and took the rest of the week off work, it was a given that Prim would have time off from the hospital and thankfully Dr Paylor had had that organised. They both showered early and changed, Prim shedding a few tears when she pulled on some of Katniss' clothing.

They sat in silence together until it seemed a reasonable enough time to leave for the hospital.

 _8:35am_

The travelled on the tube to the hospital and arrived in time to see Finnick coming towards Katniss from the other direction. Peeta went to him immediately and they pulled each other into a hug, Finnick giving Peeta a few thuds on the back.

"Thank you, for being there, you saved her life." Peeta told his close friend. Finnick tried to deny it and push off the comment, but Peeta wasn't having any of it.

"Annie's being induced today, the baby's going to be a strapping one, just like me!" Finnick joked, explaining why he was here in casual clothing. "She sent me down to check on Katniss, I didn't want to tell her yet, so she could focus on the baby, but she knew something was wrong. She sends her prayers."

The three of them look into Katniss' room. She's stable right now, just ticking along.

"Annie wants me to tell her that we want her as Godmother," Finnick says with a sad tone, "she wouldn't accept that Katniss might not be awake quite so soon."

Peeta let's Finnick go in first so he can get back to the maternity ward, although it wouldn't be until later that the baby was born.

Then Peeta and Prim take up seats on either side of Katniss. Sometimes Prim cries, then quickly wipes her tears, wanting to be the stoic one. When Peeta cries, Prim turns a little to give him the space to let it out. When Katniss wakes up, she'll be the one who needs to cry and will need both of them to be strong.

 _Thursday, 4:20pm_

"Her scans look very good," Dr Paylor says with a smile, "There are no signs of brain swelling, bleeding or damage on them, but we'll need to give her time. Being induced in a coma like this for several days can be disorientating and upsetting. Katniss could be very confused when she wakes." She explains to Prim and Peeta.

Prim knows the procedures involved with waking someone up, so she waits patiently while Dr Paylor explains weening Katniss off of the medication and then hopefully off of the ventilator within 3 or 4 days. They're going to start now.

 _5:55pm_

Prim knows that the dosages have only just been lowered, and it'll still be a while before there's any noticeable changes, but she can't help but hope. She knows Peeta does too, but he's eagerly looking for any signs of _anything_.

Peeta's phone buzzes from the table next to Prim. He doesn't bother with it, keeping his focus on Katniss, but Prim glances over.

"It's Finnick," She says, "they must be ready to check out."

Peeta barely flinches or listens to Prim. Finnick and Annie's baby had been born early on Wednesday morning, a little boy they named Callum. Peeta hadn't seen him yet, he hadn't left Katniss' side very much. He thought he wanted to wait for Katniss so they could see their Godson together. Before the accident, in the back of his mind, Peeta had somehow hoped seeing Finnick and Annie's baby would soften Katniss a little to having one of their own sometime soon. But the accident has made him re-evaluate his thinking.

Prim checks the message, and Peeta sees her turn around to the glass door to the corridor, then wave. Peeta's hand remains firmly on Katniss', but he turned his head to follow Prim's eye-line.

Finnick and Annie were standing at the door, a white bundle tucked into Finnick's arms. Peeta was a little torn over what to do because he did very much want to meet his best friends' baby.

Prim and Peeta watched as Finnick gave Annie a gentle palm on her back, urging her to go forward into the room. She closes the door behind her, and when she turns around Peeta can see her tired face and red rimmed eyes. She walks slowly over to Peeta and places her hands on his shoulders, n attempt at support.

"Hey," her voice is soft. But he hears her sniff and she wipes her eyes with one hand. "How's she doing?"

Peeta nods, not sure he trusts what will come out of his mouth.

Prim steps into the conversation, "The medication is being lowered, then hopefully she'll wake up and will breathe on her own."

Annie smiles to Prim, thankful that things are moving well with Katniss' health. She can worry a little less now. "Can I talk to her?" She adds.

"I'd like to think she can hear." Prim provides, because this is what she believes. And when Katniss wakes up, Prim knows that she wants to ask if she had heard anything or if she remembered anything.

Annie moves a little closer to Katniss, "Hi," it's almost a whisper, "so you're a Godmother now, sweetie." She leans forward and strokes down Katniss' hair. "This isn't how this was supposed to happen, although Finnick spoilt it and spilled the beans to Peeta a few weeks ago, but we wanted to tell you both together when you met Callum. Peeta's waiting for you to meet him together, but you can see him now, so how 'bout we let Peeta have his moment and meet your Godson?" In her head Katniss agrees, because _everyone_ knows how excited Peeta has been about this baby, and they all know he wants his own. Katniss had confided with Annie during the last few months that she was maybe thinking that she could do it for Peeta, have a baby with him. And as promised, Annie hadn't shared this with anyone.

Annie encourages Peeta to leave Katniss for just a second ('She's doing so well' Annie had said), and gets him to step out to see Finnick and the baby.

Peeta was reluctant to go, but he knew Annie was right, Katniss really was doing well. He felt like she was beating all the odds. His joints were stiff when he stood, but Finnick's proud smile brought a small joy to his heart – he needed to be part of this.

He closed the door to Katniss' room behind him carefully, as not to wake baby Callum. His eyes widened at the tiny newborn baby in Finnick's arms, struggling to believe what he could see. Finnick's own baby. He could remember their time as teenagers so clearly, how was it that there were now children in the picture?

He glanced back at Katniss, with machines breathing for her and keeping her alive, and here was a brand new baby, given life and breathing on his own. He kept looking between the two, wondering how they'd all gotten here and how life had worked out this way. But she's still here, she's not gone.

/

Thank you so much for reading! I really enjoyed writing something that isn't from Katniss' view, and I'm glad I finally got around to it as this has been sitting in my head for several months! This was loosely based on the British television shows '24 Hours In A&E' and 'An Hour To Save Your Life' - if you haven't seen them they're very worth checking out. They can be very emotional and always tug at the heartstrings, but I feel they bring so many things and thoughts to light and I'm so glad that the people involved agreed to be shown in this way.  
I'm also not a medical professional, so the information may not be accurate and may be seen as more of an interpretation.  
This was also unbeta'd, so all mistakes are my own.

Anyways, all comments and constructive criticisms are welcome =)  
Kirsten (and find me on tumblr at bakersgonnabakebakebakebakebake)


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